South Carolina vs. Oklahoma State, Game 2 Recap: Gamecocks Eliminated From Postseason With 3-1 Loss to Cowboys

After the offense being pretty much nonexistent today, the Gamecocks had more of the same today, again mustering just one run and losing to Oklahoma State.

Both teams were quiet offensively for the first half of Sunday's game, racking up just a handful of hits. Unfortunately, things fell apart for South Carolina in the fifth inning. Jon Littell led off with a single, then with one out, a bad play by Marcus Mooney allowed the Cowboys to get runners on the corners. A squeeze bunt that was also misplayed loaded the bases, and by the time everything was said and done, Oklahoma State was up 3-0 and the Gamecocks looked like a mess.

South Carolina finally brought an end to the shut out in the eighth inning. Gene Cone walked to start things off, TJ Hopkins followed with a single, and a wild pitch eventually brought Cone home. The Gamecocks made things interesting in the ninth, but as with pretty much everything else during this Super Regional, they couldn't catch a break. After DC Arendas walked with two outs and Mooney singled, Cone smoked a ball right to the Cowboys second baseman to end the game.

Outside of the fifth inning when things went badly for pretty much everyone, Clarke Schmidt had a pretty good outing. He worked seven innings and allowed six hits, three runs, walked two batters, and struck out five. Tyler Johnson went the rest of the way for South Carolina.

This is obviously a disappointing end to a bounce back season for the Gamecocks. For a team that didn't even make a Regional last year, that's a pretty noteworthy improvement. There's also no shame in losing to a clearly good team like Oklahoma State, who was dialed in all weekend. South Carolina finishes the 2016 season with an overall record of 46-18.